Live Video: Mobb Deep

Last month, Street Sounds went old school, featuring veterans of hip-hop Mobb Deep, who’ve been keeping it real since the early 90’s, when New York MC’s Havoc and Prodigy first made a name for themselves depicting hardcore street life and became key players in the East Coast rivalry with West Coast rappers like 2Pac and Tha Dogg Pound. The years since have been a roller coaster of commercial success, label strife, critical acclaim, internal feuding, a prison sentence, breakup and reconciliation, and now, new hope for the future as independent artists. Through it all, Havoc and Prodigy have been uncompromising and prove in this recently recorded session at KEXP that they’ve lost none of their vitality. Check out how “Taking You Off Here,” the hit single from their newest album, The Infamous Mobb Deep, sounds as fresh now as “Shook Ones” did back in ’94. This is Mobb Deep’s raw originality on display. So strap in, y’all, because we about to get hectic: